Thomas



T. H. BROWN, Jr. Letter-File.

No.196,558' Patented Oct. 30,1877.

5M H 5mm }-3immniur Attorney N. PETERS. PHOTULITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. DC

I Tami; whom-it life it knownthatl, THOMAS H; BRGWN, J12, of Chicago,jnthe corinty of Oookand State i PATENT TElOM'AS .iR.', -.oi ,eiiio eo,-ILLINOIS, As-sIeNoR TO STEPHEN I I onnnr,fon snME'P AoE.

entitlement'mlLErTER-FILE Specificatitinfofming part of Letters PatentNo: 196 558, dated October 30, 1877 application filed i I l June 9,1877'.

of Illinois, have invented cer'tainfl Improvements in Letter-Files,-,,ofwhich the following is a specification: 7 i

' practicing. this ainvention "Ii construct a J box in form somethinglike abook, =and'so made that it may be fulIy-openedat one of the lidsand in front, or wholly closed,- to guard the contents from dust: Insideof this box,

. and quite near the book-back, are fitted one or more rods, runningfrom one lid tothe 'otherr These rods may be, permanently fixed. to thebox, or they may be so secured as to be taken.

out at pleasure. Such removability, however, if given, is merely aconvenienceofthemanufacturer, and does not relate articularly to the useof the file, so that, so far as, concerns the file as a file, the rodsmay be calledpermanent, even if they areremovable. Upon these rods areplaced the leaves of an alphabetical index or portfolio. These leavesare perforated with smooth-cut equal-sized holes at the back edge, toslide loosely up and down upon the rod or rods, and. the perforation ismade large enough so that each leaf may be .turned up from thefrontedge, as though hinged loosely atthe back. An extra leaf,preferably of somewhat heavier materialthan the index-leaves, is appliedfor convenience'at each side of the index. It is, however, notabsolutely necessary.

I In order to hold the contents of the alph abetical portfolio frombeing displaced, some contrivance is desirable, because the letters tobe filed are simply placed in loosely. For this purpose I apply to thelid of the box a spring, which, .when the lid is closed, presses againstthe leaves of the index or alphabetical portfolio, and thus secures thecontents against displacement. 'When the lid is opened thespring is thusremoved out of the way, and the letters are loose and freeto be removedfor examination.

There are some minor peculiarities, which will be best understoodfromthe detailed description, with reference to the drawing.

The file thus constructed keeps the letters all the time clean and freefrom dust. When it is full of letters it maybe placedupon a shelf, likea book, with a label of its contents upon the back, with the assurancethat the letters will remain in the order given them, and always readilyaccessible, overcoming one of the disadvantages of the old style ofindex-files, inthe use of which it is customary to sew the index-leavesto the letters filed therein when the file is full, after which theletters cannot be removed separately for examination, and are frequentlyin part so concealed and covered in by the back part of the index thatthey cannot be read in the file.

111 the accompanying drawing, which forms apart of this specification,Figure 1 is a plan view of the file opened. Fig. 2 is an end view of thesame. Fig. 3 is a section of the same on line 00' w of Fig. 1. 1 Fig. 4is a similar section ofthe file closed. Fig. 5 is a sectional view ofthe fastening of the box, somewhat enlarged from the other figures.

Like letters of reference made use of in the several figures indicatelike parts wherever used.

In the said drawing, A represents the box, containing and inclosin g thealphabetical portfolio or index. B is the lid, made with the part b,which comes down to inclose the front of the box. This lid is hinged atthe back to the part a of the box, being the part that represents, inappearance, a book-back. The hinged flap G, from the lower front edge ofthe box, folds up against the part b of the lid when said lid is closed,and, by means of hooks 6 upon the flaps and eyelets e in the part 1),secures the lid closed.

It will be noticed that the face of the hook is beveled off, so thatwhen said part or bevel strikes the lower rim of the eye it will wedgethe lid down and direct the hooks into perfect engagement. When engaged,the friction and the spring of the lidwill be enough to prevent the bookfrom withdrawing accidentally, but will not be sufiicient to prevent theready opening of the box.

Within the box, t the back, are wires D, which connect and keep theindex-leaves in place. The index-leaves G are pierced at the back edgewith smoothly punched or cut equalsized holes g, considerably larger indiameter than the wire, so that they will not only freely slide up anddown said wires, but also so large thatthey will permit said leaves tobe turned up freely; as though upon a hinge. G G are stifi'er leaves atthe bottom and top of the index, and pierced in like manner with largeholes. .v The leaves G are marked successively at the front edge with analphabet or with numbers-or characters in such manner as may be desired,or as will best facilitate the classification of the contents of thefile. Theletters or documents-to be filed are placed loosely between theindex-leaves.

A spring, H, consisting preferably of a piece of wire bent into the twoarms m m, connected by a cross-bar, m and having spring-coils n n,

is secured to the inside of the box-lid in such manner, as shown, thatthe part m will come down? upon the index-leaves when the lid is closed,and will press said leaves somewhat in front of the center. When theindex is entirelyfull of papersfiled=the file may be put upon the shelfwith-.

out any further preparation than simply closing. it, and at any timethereafter a single docui ment. may be taken out for examination andreturned, or when all of the documentshave ried about and handledwithout danger of disarranging the contents. cheap and easily made thatI find the best leased when the lid is opened,*substan The file itselfis so way to use itis to fillit andfileita ay good, p whereby 'the boxforms a" bindingyor losure new and desire to secure hy LettersgFatenh-1; The combination of the perforated indexsheets, therigidrod or rodsupo "*hich they are hinged to rise and fall, and the boxprovided with ahingedlid, having attached 7. thereto the spring device, 'w ifih'presscsupon the index when-the lid is closed at specified.

2. The box, the index-sheets,fand the hinged box-lid, in combinationwitha sp'ringndevice attached to the lid, whichpresse leased when the boxis'=}opened,

.vided with a downward flan ge at having a flap from the "lower" ortiewof the box, constructed mousse u'po the lid-flange andto bei'therstantially asspecified. "*9

4. In a letter-file box, thejflap having the bevel-faced hook, in

eye, substantially as specified, .na

'rnos. n. am; JR.

o r-theinldex-sheets whenthe box isclcsec and is resi stimtially vcombination} with the flange of the' lid providg sd with the

